After breakfast we walked around outdoors at the hotel, checking out the pool and surrounding area. There was a koi pond and it looked like the fish were also ready for their breakfast!
While Kent & Bob were watching the fish, they happened to look up and saw a bright green iguana at the top of a tall palm tree. I snapped a photo with the new Canon SX-50 camera that I had purchased for the trip. When I examined the photo I had just taken, I realized what a really great zoom the camera had! I saw that there was not just one iguana...but two!
Our plan was to spend the day on the water taxi. I had a general idea of where to go, so we started walking down 17th Street to the Causeway Bridge.
We crossed over to the left side and walked below the bridge to the Hilton Hotel and found the water taxi stop. This took about 15 minutes from the hotel. From here we had a good view of the cruise ships at Port Everglades…including the massive Royal Princess and Allure of the Seas.
An all day pass on the water taxi cost $22 for an adult and can be purchased right on the boat using cash or credit cards. However there were several people getting on at the Hilton Marina and no one ever came around to take our money.
Our sunhats are a dead give-away that we are tourists, but in December we had to protect our pasty-white skin!
We rode for awhile and then decided to get off at the Las Olas Blvd. stop and walk around a bit. We told the guy on the boat that we hadn’t bought a ticket and he just said…oh go ahead, you will have to buy one to get back anyway!
Las Olas Blvd. had some high end shops and outdoor cafes, but really didn’t have anything of interest to us so we went back to the stop and re-boarded the next taxi to come along.
Las Olas Blvd. had some high end shops and outdoor cafes, but really didn’t have anything of interest to us so we went back to the stop and re-boarded the next taxi to come along.
This time we did pay, but the guy was new and forgot to give us the ticket…we had to remind him later before we got off. We wanted the ticket because the pass was good for all day and we wanted to return later in the evening.
The boat captains give a running commentary on what you are seeing…who lives in what mansion, who owns which yacht, etc. Pretty interesting to us Midwesterners…the wealth in Ft. Lauderdale is mind boggling!
By 1:30 we were getting hungry so got back off at the Hilton Marina and headed back towards the hotel. On the way we stopped for lunch at Shula Burger. Nothing special, but it filled our tummies.
After a short rest at the hotel, I logged into the Port Everglades webcam on my iPad. As each ship started to leave the port, I would run to the end of the hallway and watch in person! I had never paid much attention to the webcam so I was surprised to see how they zoomed in on the people on deck as the ships pulled out of port.
After our late lunch, no one was ready for dinner just yet so we walked back to the Hilton Marina and boarded the water taxi again. We actually did some of the same route that we had done in the morning, but in the dark it was fun to see the homes decorated for the holidays. By the time we got off the boat, hunger had returned and we stopped at Carrabba’s Italian restaurant on the way back to the hotel.
After a short rest at the hotel, I logged into the Port Everglades webcam on my iPad. As each ship started to leave the port, I would run to the end of the hallway and watch in person! I had never paid much attention to the webcam so I was surprised to see how they zoomed in on the people on deck as the ships pulled out of port.
After our late lunch, no one was ready for dinner just yet so we walked back to the Hilton Marina and boarded the water taxi again. We actually did some of the same route that we had done in the morning, but in the dark it was fun to see the homes decorated for the holidays. By the time we got off the boat, hunger had returned and we stopped at Carrabba’s Italian restaurant on the way back to the hotel.
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